Gordon blossoms in Garden

NEW YORK — Ben Gordon, a native of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., didn't hide his affection for Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

"I love it," Gordon said. "This is my favorite place to play in the league other than being at home at the United Center. This is my home away from home."

He made himself at home with a team-leading 28 points, including 21 on three-pointers, in 27 minutes 29 seconds.

Gordon has been consistent against the Knicks. Last season he averaged 17.8 points against them to help the Bulls pull off a series sweep.

Parting shot

Tim Thomas, who no longer is joining the Bulls at practices or games, told his hometown newspaper, the Herald News of Passaic County, N.J., that he had a talk with Bulls coach Scott Skiles to address his time on the bench.

"I asked him, `Do you think I'm dogging it in practice?'" Thomas said. "He told me, `No.' He told me I wasn't playing on the level the guys were playing on at that particular time. I thought that was another laughing matter. The last time I checked, we don't get our checks for our wins and losses in practice."

Thomas is working out at Villanova, where he went to school.

Quotable

Skiles, shrugging off the friendships between his players and former Bulls Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis:

"All the guys in the league know each other now. They all played AAU together at some point or played together in all-star games. The whole league is like that now. That's why you see the big hugging and kissing contests before every game."

For the record, there were hearty handshakes and backslapping but no kissing.